Polo Shops on Winchester Facing Foreclosure

The Polo Shops on Winchester Road is facing foreclosure after owner MPI/Polo I & II defaulted on a $3.9 million loan, according to a first-run foreclosure notice in the Thursday, Feb. 7, edition of the Daily News.

The Class A shopping center, 7444 Winchester Road and 7464 Winchester Road, was built in 2002 and is situated on a combined 2.6 acres at the northwest corner of Winchester and South Germantown roads, across the street from Walmart Supercenter.

The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2012 appraisal for the two parcels totals $2.9 million.

R. Spencer Clift III, the substitute trustee for U.S. Bank NA, which currently holds the loan, has scheduled the foreclosure sale for Friday, March 1. Per newspaper policy, calls to the parties involved, such as the property owner, deed holder or trustee, are prohibited until the notice is published.

The full text of the notice begins on Page 33 of Thursday’s Daily News and is also available at www.memphisdailynews.com.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

City Council Begins Move to Ballot on Sales Tax Hike

The Memphis City Council approved on the first of three readings Tuesday, Feb. 5, the ordinance setting up a referendum on a citywide half cent sales tax hike to be held “by Sept. 30, 2013.”

The council delayed action on a resolution that would establish revenue from the tax hike, estimated at $47 million, would be used to fund pre-kindergarten programs and to roll back the city’s property tax rate by 20 cents in the fiscal year that begins July 1. The delay was to vote on the resolution at the same March council meeting when the referendum ordinance is up for third and final reading.

Council member Myron Lowery withdrew his pending “wage theft” ordinance before a vote on third and final reading. Lowery said he pulled the proposal because a version of it failed before the Shelby County Commission previously. Lowery added that he might also bring the proposal back to the council. If he does it would start again at the first of three readings.

But the council delayed for two weeks a vote on a $10,000 expansion of the utility’s Smart Meter demonstration project with Itron Inc. The expansion would bring the contract to a value of $390,300.

Council member Janis Fullilove moved for the delay to the Feb. 19 council meeting, saying she wanted to review the demonstration project in council committee sessions that same day.

– Bill Dries

Tennessee Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Voter ID

The Tennessee Supreme Court has heard arguments from the city of Memphis and its residents challenging the state’s voter ID law.

Memphis and two of its residents sued the state of Tennessee to force election officials to accept Memphis library cards as identification at the polls. The state attorney general’s office argued during Wednesday’s oral arguments the law requires either a state-issued photo ID, federal identification or an ID issued from another state.

Janet M. Kleinfelter, from the Attorney General’s office, also argued that the law was not so onerous that it would deprive people of the right to vote.

But attorneys representing Memphis contend the law makes it too difficult for some people to vote, including 650 people who have not had their votes counted in the last two elections because they lacked the proper identification.

– The Associated Press

Riverfront Development Corp. Promotes Spence to Vice President

Dorchelle T. Spence has been promoted to vice president of the Riverfront Development Corp., the nonprofit with jurisdiction over the Memphis riverfront public spaces and amenities.

Spence was promoted from her position as communications director. Her new duties have been broadened to include strategic direction as well as marketing, public relations, programming and community relations.

Forsythe Appraisals Opens Memphis Office

St. Paul, Minn.-based Forsythe Appraisals LLC, the largest independent provider of residential real estate appraisals in the U.S., has opened a Memphis branch office, managed by Chuck Seagle.

The office will provide residential appraisal solutions in Fayette, Haywood, Shelby and Tipton counties. This is Forsythe Appraisals’ second branch office in the state of Tennessee, behind its Nashville branch, which opened in 2006.

Forsythe Appraisals’ president and CEO John Forsythe said in a press release that Memphis is a market that has been on the company’s expansion short-list for “quite some time.” Forsythe Appraisals targets Metropolitan Statistical Areas with populations in excess of 1 million, in markets where housing and employment are “diverse and stable.”

A Memphis native, Seagle is a certified appraiser with more than two decades of industry experience in western and middle Tennessee. He is a graduate of the University of Memphis, a published author on appraisal topics, and was a member of the City of Bartlett planning commission from 2003 to 2007.

– Sarah Baker

Caraway Certified as Million Dollar Advocate

The forum is a prestigious group of U.S. trial lawyers. Membership is limited to attorneys who have won million-dollar and multimillion-dollar verdicts, awards and settlements. It was founded in 1993, and there are about 4,000 members throughout the country.

Outside of the office, he’s been involved in charitable causes benefiting underprivileged children, served as a volunteer for Special Olympics and engaged in fundraising for nonprofit legal services for the poor. He also speaks annually to high school students about the legal profession and law-related topics.

– Andy Meek

Saltsman Hired to Promote School Vouchers in State

The Washington-based American Federation for Children has hired Republican operative Chip Saltsman to promote school vouchers in Tennessee.

Spokeswoman Kimberly Kump said the group’s minimum objective is to help pass Republican Gov. Bill Haslam’s limited school voucher proposal. It would prefer to see the program expanded to be available to a much larger number of children.

Saltsman was most recently chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Chattanooga. He previously served as chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party and ran former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s presidential bid in 2008.

Kump said Saltsman won’t be directly lobbying lawmakers, but will be responsible for a larger public relations effort. She declined to say how much the group will spend on the promotion campaign.

– The Associated Press

Advocacy Group Pushes for Higher Teacher Standards

An education advocacy group is pushing for teacher candidates to face higher academic standards before they even begin taking college classes.

The move by the State Collaborative on Reforming Education comes after Tennessee education officials linked teacher effectiveness to better ACT scores. It said some colleges and universities admit teacher education students who score as low as 15 on the college admissions test. A score of 21 on the ACT is considered the standard of readiness for college.